Sudbury church releases new Christmas CD

By Jeff AdairDaily News Staff

Monday

Dec 14, 2015 at 11:42 AMDec 14, 2015 at 12:10 PM

SUDBURY - The angelic voices of more than 60 singers ages 6 to 60 bring the story of Christmas to life on the new CD, “A Baby Changes Everything,” produced by the music ministry of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Sudbury.

The CD, done in conjunction with the church’s 60th anniversary, was released last week and includes 10 tracks, ranging from contemporary to traditional.

On the opening track, the Rev. Richard Erikson, church pastor, gives a short message, spoken to music, called “Yes, Virginia, Jesus is God.” This message, an adaptation of Francis B. Church’s famous 1897 New York Sun editorial about Santa, responds to a girl who wonders whether Jesus was more than just a mere man.

Even though he was involved with the project, Erikson said when he put his copy in the CD player and listened, it hit: “This is good. This is very good.”

Cynthia Carpenter-Marr, the church’s music director, said one thing that makes the CD special is that all the arrangements were custom made by her, and very experienced professionals from Los Angeles, the Boston Pops and the Berklee College of Music.

“This is something that people can listen to time and time again,” she said. “It’s pretty polished.”

This is the fifth CD produced during Carpenter-Marr’s tenure at Our Lady of Fatima and only the second done for the Christmas season.

“I hope when people listen to this they feel the true essence of Christmas that is still alive in our parish despite the commercialization,” Carpenter-Marr said. “We’re trying to keep Christ in Christmas. This is a very palpable way to do it for people of all ages.”

Church member Catherine Allen of Framingham who took part in the choir’s last CD had the pleasure of sharing the experience this go round with her two daughters, Juliet, a kindergartner, and Cora, a third grader.

“They were excited to go to the studio,” she said. “It was cool for them to hear the finished product, the blending of their vocals, the children’s choir along with the adults, and the harmonizing. They were just beaming with excitement. ”

Allen, who has been a member of the parish for more than a decade, said she chose Our Lady of Fatima because of its music ministry.

“Music is a very important part of my worship,” she said, noting that Carpenter- Marr “does a wonderful job with the music program year round.”

Kendra Keelan, a freshman at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High, said it was "really cool" going into the recording studio, where the producers explained to the teens how their voices were going to be manipulated so all the choirs made one big sound as if they were all in the same room singing together.

"We recorded four songs with just the teens," she said, noting that she "felt like a pop star."

“I just loved the overall experience,” she added. “ I thought this was something that not everyone gets to do. When it comes along, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience."

Carpenter-Marr pitched the project in the summer to record songs that the choirs sang the previous Christmas season. Work on the vocal tracks, done at Wellspring Sound in Acton, MixOne Studio in Boston, and Jon Chase Studios in Methuen began in early September.

"It was very fast track, very compressed," Carpenter-Marr said about the time frame. "This was definitely our best CD," she added.

Carpenter-Marr gives recognition a few people who played a key role in the project, including Kimberly Whiteley, leader of song and a soloist on the CD; associate organist George Sargeant; and Julia Palmerino, who started in the music program as a second grader and now as a student at the College of the Holy Cross continues to work with the kids as a song leader.

Erikson, the pastor, said that while donations will be accepted, “this CD was not a fundraising effort. It’s really simply our joy of sharing the music we created.”

CD’s can be obtained at the church office 160 Concord Road, Sudbury, or by going online www.fatimasudbury.org.